Conversing with RRW

I've been posting on a site called Refugee Resettlement Watch. It's been a frustrating dialouge, but it's also helped me think through how my faith informs and shapes the work I do with refugees. Since I put a lot of time into my posts, I decided to put one here also. Go here to see the whole conversation.

From what I can tell, one of the ideals that drives this website is a belief that one culture can be superior to another. For example, in response to my April 15 post discussing refugees’ desire to preserve cultural identity, acorcoran said:

“Yes, they want to “preserve” their culture, but the difference is that I am not trying to “preserve” my culture in the midst of another country’s culture and expecting that country to change for me. And, frankly, I happen to think our American culture is superior to most, all!, of the cultures that are coming to the US and if that were not so, they would be staying in their part of the world and trying to improve it instead of beating down the door to get here.”

Also, RRW recently endorsed an opinion piece by John Press on Somali immigration. Discussing an immigration mechanism called the Diversity Lottery, he says:

“Somali immigration exemplifies the cultural and physical dangers of such a policy. It invites a foreign and hostile cultures onto our shores. We should, at very least, stop Somali immigration until their piracy of our ships stop. Such culturist immigration policies would remind us that we have a culture as well as a duty and right to protect it.

Multiculturalism is an unthinking philosophy. It blocks thought by asking us to celebrate all cultures. President Obama’s formulation says we must “respect” all cultures. This means that we have no judgment towards them. This limits the use of our reason. It means that considering values, in fact, becomes a thought crime as it might invoke choosing some and not others. Our immigration decisions should consider mores, language, and the cultural ability to honor our Founding Fathers and the principles for which they fought.”

Later, Press continues,

“We should ban all Somali immigration until the piracy stops. Then we should make a review of Somali culture, its compatibility with western culture and the progress towards assimilation of Somalis currently in the U.S. This would protect us and punish the Somali pirates. The multicultural idea of not noticing the Somali tendency towards piracy, attacks on U.S. interests and affinity for Jihadi warlords is dangerous. Not recognizing their polygamy, treatment of women, and female genital mutilation lends credence to the multicultural vision of diversity not being important. Not recognizing the enormous financial costs of caring for such a culture reifies the ignoring of economic realities in the name of ‘international rights.’

Banning Somali immigration would codify culturism. That is, it would legally acknowledge and privilege our western cultural identity. Symbolically it would restore the values and cultural touchstones of honor we have sought to emulate and protect. It would affirm a cultural base into which immigrants could strive to assimilate. It would also discourage their Somali’s brazen refusal to assimilate. It would end our multicultural confusion about our being an international entity on the order of the United Nations. Even if the immediate impact were not great, symbolically, culturist immigration policy would realign our relationship with the world, our immigrants and ourselves in a very healthy way.”

First of all, I’ll assume that by “culture,” acorcoran and Professor Press both refer, more or less, to a set of collective values and the formal or informal traditions by which a group of people live out those values and thus form a communal identity.

To claim that one’s own culture is superior to another is not only myopic, but also illogical. Every culture is deep, complex, and multifaceted. Every culture has virtues and vices.

For example, our nation was founded with the assertion that all men are created equal and endowed by God with the unalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. All Americans should be grateful for that conviction of our founding fathers. Indeed, the very notion of accepting refugees for resettlement is consistent with this ideal, if America really believes that these rights belong to all men and women. These are American virtues. But it only takes a bit of honest investigating to see the longstanding flaws in our national character, or culture. The genocide of Native Americans and the institution of slavery are two symptoms of a sickness called greed that has infected us since Jamestown. Today our greed is manifested in materialism and combines with a hyper-individualized lifestyle to slowly destroy our communities, families, and the environment.

The point is that it is unfair to speak only about the beauty of your own culture and only about the ugliness of another. This is what RRW does when it has hundreds of headlines and links that say things like this: Somali Jihadist Recruitment; reluctance to assimilate; getting into the US by lying; terrorist training camps; Somali gangs; polygamy; Somalis still arriving in Greeley, looking for work; defending Somali rapists; Omar Jamal headed to New York to help Somali Pirate; Somali Cyanide Death Case.

This also is what Professor Press does when he rattles off a list of “polygamy, treatment of women, and female genital mutilation.” With or without intention, he paints millions of individual people the same nasty color with one stripe, with a single sentence.

I’ve spent a good deal of time with Somali Bantu refugees who are far from being terrorists, rapists, polygamists, or pirates. They are not hostile; they are hospitable, generous, persistent, and loyal.

Professor Press and RRW, when you pin labels on Somali culture, you pin labels on my friends—Ali, Halima, Said, Abdi, Hassan, Fatuma, Mako, and others.

I can assure you, acorcoran, that they did not leave “their part of the world” and “beat down the door” to get to America because they love our unhealthy food, our crass media industry, our obsession with personal property, our disregard for the elderly, our impatience, or our industrial waste.

They came to America because prejudice people who believe their own culture is superior to Bantu culture killed their family members and chased my friends away from their homes. Then somebody offered them a chance to start a new life in a place where people believe that all men and women are created equal with the God-given right to pursue liberty and happiness. They did what you would have done if your part of the world was a war zone and you fled for your life.

Inform your readers, RRW, but please be careful with your language. We can guard our heritage and culture without promoting the belief that others are inferior. The fact is, whether everybody likes it or not, a lot of refugees are here to stay. So take issue with policies, but don’t stir up negative sentiment against entire people groups.